MARIJUANA IS A MEDICINE THAT PEOPLE NEED

Support for medical marijuana may have finally reached critical mass in
Maryland. On Feb. 8, Del. Don Murphy, R-Baltimore County, formally
introduced a medical marijuana bill in the Maryland House of Delegates.

The Darrell Putnam Compassionate Use Act would provide effective protection
to the many Maryland residents who are already using marijuana to relieve
the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and a host of other
medical conditions.

With 52 other delegates signed on to the bill, Del. Murphy has set a
national record for the number of co-sponsors on any medical marijuana
bill. The legislation has support from both sides of the aisle, including
the majority and minority leaders as well as the speaker pro tem and the
minority whip.

Named after a former Green Beret who died of cancer, the Darrell Putnam
Compassionate Use Act would allow a patient suffering from a serious
illness to use marijuana with a recommendation from his or her doctor.

The state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would issue
identification cards to medical marijuana patients to ensure that law
enforcement agents could easily identify legitimate patients from non-patients.

Maryland's medical marijuana program would be the strictest in the country.
The bill prohibits cultivation of more than seven marijuana plants.

Certified caregivers would be permitted to provide marijuana to only one
patient at any given time, and a patient could receive marijuana from only
one primary caregiver. All marijuana plants would have to be grown in
secure indoor facilities, and patients would be prohibited from using
marijuana in such a way that endangers public safety (such as driving while
under the influence). These safeguards will assure the safety of patients
and the public.

Thousands of doctors in eight states - Alaska, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - are legally recommending
marijuana to tens of thousands of patients to ease the nausea of
chemotherapy and AIDS medications, the muscle spasticity of multiple
sclerosis and the seizures of epilepsy.

And in those eight states, not a single patient or doctor has ever faced
federal arrest, prosecution or imprisonment for possessing or recommending
small amounts of marijuana for medical use.

Patients not fortunate enough to reside in states with medical marijuana
laws currently risk arrest simply for using a medicine that brings them relief.

These people are not threats to society, yet they face criminal sanctions.
An arrest for medical marijuana possession can result not only in a
criminal record and possible imprisonment, but in termination of
employment, denial of student financial aid, driver's license suspension
and expulsion from school or public housing, regardless of whether the
marijuana was for medical use. Is society served by punishing the ill and
disabled?

Maryland residents support medical marijuana. In early January, a statewide
poll found that twice as many Maryland voters are more likely to vote for a
candidate who supports medical marijuana than are less likely to support
such a candidate. And in 1999, the University of Maryland's Center for
Substance Abuse Research conducted a poll, asking if residents believed
"physicians should be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical use."
Fully 73 percent of respondents were in favor of medical marijuana. These
results mirror national polls conducted from 1995 through 1999, which
showed support for medical marijuana ranging from 60 percent to 79 percent
of those surveyed.

The Maryland General Assembly faces a choice: Protect patients from arrest,
or treat them as common criminals. If you believe that patients shouldn't
go to jail for the simple act of taking their medicine, please make your
voice heard. Ask your elected officials this simple question: Which is
worse for seriously ill people - marijuana or prison?

Krissy Oechslin is assistant communications director of the Marijuana
Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org.